For future articles, Mr. Wilonsky should know something about the game before he writes about it. If he were a tennis fan, he would have to acknowledge that in his place in the press box, John McEnroe is the best thing that ever happened to tennis.

Meredith Miller
Via e-mail

The "Gabfly"
Pretty good story on Jurline Hollins ["The mouth of the south," September 24], but I just have to say that when she mentions she has no appetite for whites, then that comment alone makes her a racist. What she does not realize is that it's also the white people that are screwing her and the entire black population in Dallas. Jurline Hollins is only supporting the black population and their interests, but there are white folks out there that are suffering the very same indignities of racial discrimination that the black population is, so why is it that she or you can't fight City Hall and win? Because it's an evil organization that does not care about the people.

I didn't vote for Ron Kirk, I don't know who Ross Perot Jr. really is, and I don't support his agenda. You just put in your paper that the best thing ever to happen to the Dallas Mavericks was the NBA lockout, because they're one of the worst basketball teams in the last 10 years and are an embarrassment to the city of Dallas. So why are they building them a $235 million new playtoy on Stemmons Freeway at taxpayer expense when they can't even play ball? I've never been to a Mavericks or Stars game, but I'm getting charged a higher rate to stay in a hotel or motel room to fund their plaything. Do you think that's fair?

Jurline Hollins is right on one account: Just where does all the money go?
Anonymous
Via e-mail

Gay Republicans
One would hope to find a more positive article on the Log Cabin Republicans' mission ["GOP to gays: Butt out," September 3] from a supposedly "alternative" paper. Do you know any group more committed to what is inherently just rather than what is easy? Perhaps even your much-loathed Dallas Morning News can give more honest reporting in this respect.

The problem lies not only in Mr. [Stuart] Eskenazi's bias, but in that of the editors. Why can't the author fess up? He's emblazoned the fact all over the bathroom walls that he's a screaming liberal, and anything that threatens his apparently recent college-dazed haze of Marxist-cannabis-utopianism must be toppled for hegemony's sake. Sure, let him act like a coward and hide behind your aprons; is he gay, is he really a leftist, or is he a member of the Christian Coalition? From his reporting, one can only suspect that he was a planted caller from Jerry Falwell's trenches.

As for reporting, I respect The Economist, an organization for which Mr. Eskenazi will never work. They have the foresight and honesty to tell you what their bias is. They have gained respect worldwide for transparent reporting. They and I believe in free trade, lower taxes, efficient and responsive governments, personal responsibility, civil (including gay) rights, and total disclosure when reporting. That's a measure that I don't think you'll achieve while I'm alive, and perhaps that's why I don't pay for your paper--except on my sewage bill.

Also, as a longtime Economist subscriber, I take issue with Mr. Clark's claim that the magazine offers "total disclosure." How would anyone know? The paper doesn't even disclose its writers' names.

Asbestos is bad
I read your lengthy expose on Fred Baron, "Toxic justice" [August 13]. Your story was not a fair portrayal of Mr. Baron.

Everyone knows that asbestos is a dangerous product that can cause serious illness and death. The makers of asbestos-containing products continued to manufacture products containing asbestos and to expose their workers to asbestos dust for decades after their internal research revealed these dangers. Fred Baron built a law firm to take on this billionaire industry for the ordinary people whose lives were cut short or scarred by the greed and callous disregard of these corporate giants.

We should thank Fred Baron for vigorously representing those injured by asbestos exposure, and by doing so, giving corporate polluters an incentive not to market toxic products. Mr. Baron's work has made the world a safer place for all of us.

Clay Lewis Jenkins
Waxahachie

Correction
An item titled "Best Place to Rat Out an Attorney" in the September 24 "Best of Dallas" issue contained several errors. The business described in the item, 1-877-MISLEAD, is not run by attorneys--nor did the operator of the business, Tom Herron, represent to the Dallas Observer that he was a licensed attorney. Furthermore, the for-profit business is inaccurately described as a "watchdog" organization. Herron describes his business as follows: "I finance litigation in civil and malpractice cases. In exchange for financing, I get a percentage of the plaintiff's recovery, if any." The Observer apologizes for the errors.